Free Get Over It by Nikki Carter Page B

Reign Records or Epsilon Records, I know who’s footing the bill on my projects. Lawrence Cohen and his daddy at Epsilon. So, for now, I’ll sit tight, but if Evan continues to unravel, I may just have to jump ship and bail.
    Hopefully, my cousin uses the life raft too and doesn’t go down with the captain.

11
    â€œS o what do you think about Evan’s speech?” Bethany asks.
    Immediately after the meeting, she sent me a text and asked me to meet her at Busy Bee Café, so I’m sure she has something to say about it. I just need some delicious carbs after that whole thing so I can calm down. Fried chicken, collard greens, and yams it is, with an extra side of macaroni and cheese. I will work out later, maybe even do some yoga with Piper.
    â€œHonestly, I think Evan’s losing it. But I don’t have all the details. I knew Big D was working on something, but I didn’t know what.”
    â€œOne of the Epsilon interns told me that it’s not just Dreya that’s on her way out of Epsilon, but it’s Evan too. They think he’s trying to build an empire that he’s gonna try to walk away with at some point.”
    Now, this is starting to make sense. All of the “family” and solidarity stuff Evan keeps trying to push down our throats. He needs our loyalty to hang on with Epsilon Records. He’s got money on his own, but not that long money that Epsilon has. He’s hood rich. The head honchos at Epsilon, the ones signing the checks, have generations of wealth.
    â€œSo what does this mean for us?”
    â€œWell, I heard from a very reliable source that Epsilon is going to offer us contracts with the parent company and void the agreements with Reign Records. Reign only exists because of Epsilon, so they can pull the plug whenever they want.”
    I knew there was a reason Evan rushed the marriage to Dreya. If Epsilon is about to send him packing, he’ll need an artist to help him get back on his feet. Truthfully, Dreya could go to another record company and Evan would come with her. They’d be a package deal.
    â€œSo what are you gonna do?” I ask. “Are you going to take the deal with Epsilon?”
    â€œI sure am,” Bethany says without missing a beat. “I’m a team player, but I’m planning to be on the winning team.”
    â€œI know that’s right,” I say.
    â€œAre you going to go over to Epsilon too?”
    I bite my bottom lip in thought. My decision isn’t as easy as Bethany’s. I keep asking myself if Dreya would stay with Reign Records if she was in my shoes. I can’t say that she would. As a matter of fact, I know that she wouldn’t. And she wouldn’t think of it as a betrayal at all, just survival.
    Unfortunately, I’m not like her.
    If I was, this decision would be easy. I could walk away from Reign Records and not care about the aftermath or how it would affect anyone but me.
    â€œWell, I’ll wait for Epsilon to make the offer. As of right now, this is all just a rumor, and Evan is almost a crazy man.”
    Bethany laughs out loud. “Okay! But what about you and Sam? Y’all seem to be back cordial.”
    I don’t respond to this. Instead, I put a fork full of greens in my mouth.
    Bethany rolls her eyes. “All right, I get it. It’s none of my business. I’m just asking because I’ve never seen any two people more perfect for each other than y’all.”
    It takes everything in me not to burst into laughter in Bethany’s face. Did she forget how we fell out behind Sam, how she felt like she saw him first and that she had dibs on him? Since when did she believe we were perfect for each other? This is news to me.
    â€œI know what you’re thinking, Sunday. “That was a long time ago.”
    â€œThat was less than a year ago.”
    â€œBut in teen years, that’s like forever. I’ve had so many loves and losses